Archived Session Laws
 
You likely have found the need to see the session law that affected a statute in the past. You can see these previous session laws in Casemaker. From the home page click on Archive in the blue bar above the list of states. Next click on Session Laws. From here you can select your state and then the year of interest. Note – Federal libraries are on this list as well!
 
Support Chat

Would you rather type than call? You can get help from Casemaker Support by clicking on the Live Chat link in the upper right of the screen from 8 am - 8 pm EST Monday - Friday. You can also email Casemaker at [email protected]
 
Casemaker On the Go!
 
You can access Casemaker on the go. Visit the iTunes or Google Play store and download the Casemaker App to your iOS or Android device.
After downloading the Casemaker mobile application you will need to register online. Access the Casemaker website using your computer as you normally do. Once you have entered Casemaker look on the left side of the screen for the “Mobile Application” link. Clicking this will direct you to a form to fill out and submit to receive a reference code. Now, open the mobile application on your device. You will be asked for a username and password or for a reference code. Your username is the email address you used to register the mobile application. Your password is the reference code you received when you registered. Please note that the reference code is case-sensitive.
That is all it takes to have the comprehensive power of Casemaker in the palm of your hand.

Searching by keyword

The most basic Casemaker search is the keyword search. It can also be the most complex if you wish – just use the search operators found in the blue Search Tips link under the Search button. To search first select your jurisdiction from the jurisdiction menu, then type in your word or words in the search bar and hit the blue search button. The keyword search can be found in other places as well. When you are viewing the list of cases you discovered in a previous search you can narrow that search by keyword in the left menu. If you are looking at a list of citing references you can also narrow that list by keyword on the citing references page.
The radio button selections below Casemaker search bar defaults to keyword. You may find that you can still enter things that are not keywords and get results, however, they may not be as accurate. You certainly can leave keyword selected and enter in a case citation – but you may get more than just the result you were seeking. In those cases, you may wish to choose a more specific search type.
 
Client Tracking in Casemaker

Need to keep track of time spent doing online research for a client?  Utilizing the Client and Session Summary features of Casemaker can help.  Simply create a Client and select the client each time you begin to conduct research for that client.  Once you have finished, click the Sign Out link to sign out of Casemaker and view the Session Summary.  The Session Summary contains the date, time and client for each search, which can be used to keep track of billable hours for the client.  Please remember to print this information as it cannot be retrieved after closing the Session Summary.

Countdown! Mark your calendars! Do not miss this!

May 22nd-26th - vLex is giving Casemaker members a gift valued at $645 in free access to its global platform:
•             Case Law & Legislation for 100+ common & civil law countries
•             Digital Library of 8,000+ law journals, treatises, books & magazines
•             Automatic Translation into English
•             Full-text downloads
•             500+ Databases aggregated into one platform & one subscription

Explore the largest collection of primary & secondary legal materials in the world on a cutting-edge platform powered by artificial intelligence.

vLex is a leading global online intelligence provider and the exclusive distributor for William S. Hein in Continental Europe and Latin America.

How to access the Free Trial:
1.            Casemaker users select the International Law by vLex tab in the left-hand column of the home page
2.            On the vLex search page, simply begin a search on your topic of interest (ex. Divorce)
3.            A yellow alert box will open prompting you to Create a Free Account
4.            Creating your own account will allow you to customize your search preferences
5.            Enjoy unlimited access to primary & secondary legal materials from 100+ countries during this free period of May 22-26!
 
And Searches

The AND search is the simplest search to do in Casemaker. Simply put any number of words in leaving a space between each, and Casemaker will retrieve documents which contain all the words you mentioned. Contract binding will find the documents which mention both the word contact and the word binding. The search string handgun felony minor will find the documents with the words handgun, felony and minor in them. Please Note: You do not need and should not use the word AND in your search. The system already sees the space between your terms as an AND search unless you say otherwise. Using the word AND may yield the wrong results.
 
Support and Training

Casemaker Support is available from 8 AM to 8 PM EST, Monday through Friday. You can reach support by phone (877) 659-0801, email [email protected] or by clicking the Live Chat link in the upper right of Casemaker. You can also find educational videos by clicking the Videos link and you can sign up for free live webinar training sessions by clicking on Webinar while in the system.
 
Searching for Cases with Citation

The most frequently used function of Casemaker for most users is searching by citation. From the home page you can simply type your citation in. You do not have to worry about being too picky if you use the wrong spacing, punctuation, or capitalization; Casemaker will automatically correct that for you. You do however need to make sure you are using only the reporter citation and the proper abbreviation. Casemaker goes by the Blue Book citation guidelines if you have any questions regarding abbreviations. For example, with Kearns v. Ford Motor Co., 567 F.3d 1120 (9th Cir. 2009), all you would put in the search bar is 567 F.3d 1120. Be sure you select the correct jurisdiction, however – you will not be able to pull up a New Hampshire Superior Court case when searching in US Court of Appeals!

Sometimes a particular citation brings up more than one result, and there is a very good reason for this. The other case shares a page with the case you were searching for. For example, your case may end on page 104 and another case begins on the same page of the reporter. This means even if you are typing in a pin cite, you will still be able to locate the case you are looking for.
 

Casemaker partners with Expert Search Group

Casemaker has partnered with Expert Search Group (also known as ESG) to help you find Expert Witnesses with ease. ESG is an expert search firm with a revolutionary billing model designed to save you and your client money. They typically charge a one-time flat fee for each expert hired. There is no hourly surcharge or hidden administrative fees added to the expert’s rate. ESG does not require a retainer like other companies and once placed, you and the expert move forward with none of the invasiveness of the three-way billing process used by expert referral firms. How? They provide you with a selection of fully vetted experts who are qualified, available, interested, and conflict-free. Once you decide on one, you engage the expert directly.
 
Narrow by Circuit

While the Jurisdiction menu will aid you to narrow your search to Circuit court cases, it will not allow you to narrow to a specific circuit. However, that option is still available! Once you perform your search, click to view all the case results. You can also click on the Cases link on the left. Either option will pull up your results list and a menu on the left side. This left side menu gives you the option to narrow your results by a variety of different ways. For example, you could use the Jurisdiction option to narrow to check the box for Circuit. Note you may have to click a link at the bottom of the category to get all your options. Next, you can the United States Court of Appeals you wish by checking off the appropriate box. Now your results should be narrowed to the Circuit court you prefer.
 
Searching by Party

Searching by party works best if the party or parties in question have a less than common name. Obviously, searching for the party name of Smith is going to yield a number of results compared to other less common names. 

To search by party simply type the name of the party in the search bar and select the circle (often called a radio button) under the search bar labeled party. This will pull up all cases where that name is mentioned as a party in the case. 

Become a Casemaker Expert

New to Casemaker? Want to learn about all that Casemaker can do? Need a review of how to look up something in Casemaker? You can attend our web-based training sessions at no cost as often as you like. Just click on the link for Webinar in Casemaker or visit https://casemakerlegal.com/registerwebinar.aspx to register!
 
Using the OR Search

Sometimes you may find you actually want a case that mentions either one term OR another term. That is where the OR search comes in. For example using the query alimony OR support will give you cases which mention either word.
 
Finding Your Search Terms

You’ve done your search with your keyword or keywords and you have pulled up your first result to read the case. Now where in the world are your search terms even mentioned? You can find them using the Search Terms arrows in the gray toolbar. Located just above the title when you are reading the case is a gray toolbar. Here you see options to return to results, arrows to move around your list of results documents, as well as the phrase Search Terms with arrows on either side. Clicking on either arrow will take you to the next search term above or below where you are in the case you are viewing.